“Amplifying Latinx Families’ Language Education Rights: Luchando for Urban Dual Language Bilingual Education” – A Civic Engagement Lunch Talk Follow-Up
On January 31st, 2024, Professor P. Zitlali Morales, Phd presented at IPCE's Civic Engagement Lunch Talk series held on campus in Daley Hall. She was accompanied by three of her research partners, Ramona Alcalá, PhD, Megan Marshall, ABD, and Yaniz Rodriguez, BA. Their presentation was titled “Amplifying Latinx Families' Language Education Rights: Luchando for Urban Dual Language Bilingual Education”.
During the 2022-2023 academic year, Dr. Morales and her research collaborative conducted workshops with Latinx, predominantly Spanish-speaking parents around the Chicagoland area. They presented 3 key pieces of information regarding language education within Chicago: 1) the differences between program models that their children have access to; 2) how to access dual language bilingual education (DLBE), the program that has been shown to best support emergent bilinguals; and 3) how they can advocate for a DLBE program if one does not exist in their neighborhood school. Thereafter, the team invited parents to fill out a brief survey about their understanding of and experience with language education for their children, as well as their involvement with their children’s schools. A subset of these parents agreed to also participate in individual interviews where they shared some of their own schooling experiences, as well as their wishes for their own children’s education. The team's culminating activity was a Dual Language Bilingual Education Parent Summit hosted at UIC. During the summit, they shared further resources with parents (such as bilingual book vendors and a talk regarding bilingual speech-language services) and invited them to participate in a focus group conversation. As a group, parents shared their experiences and hopes with respect to language services in school and beyond.
For their lunch talk, Dr. Morales and team presented some of the information about language education in the state of Illinois shared with Chicago parents, as well as the total number of parents they engaged in this project. Additionally, they shared some preliminary results from quantitative analysis of the surveys and qualitative analysis of the interviews and focus group.
Keep an eye out for Professor Morales published chapter on her work entitled, "¿Estamos escuchando? Creating transformative ruptures that amplify Latinx families' right to DLBE in Chicagoland." in the report Overcoming the gentrification of dual language, bilingual and immersion education. The report will be available March 12th, 2024. Follow this link to check it out.
Follow the link below to watch the entire lunch talk. We thank Professor Morales and her team for their wonderful research that helps further our understanding of effective strategies and tools for civic engagement! View our events tab on our website to stay up to date on future Civic Engagement Lunch Talks.
